No Knead Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What happens if I don't knead my bread dough enough? ›

A failure to knead dough (unless you're working with a no-knead recipe) can lead to: Poor gluten development: When you don't knead bread, the gluten won't form properly. This can result in a lack of elasticity and strength, meaning your final product is likely to come out of the oven dense and heavy.

My dough didn't rise.

No knead dough doesn't rise like standard yeast breads, it only puffs up and gets bubbly. It will be a little bigger after the resting time but don't look for a much larger volume. Your yeast may not be fresh and should not be used past the expiration date.

Usually your bread will be chewy when there isn't enough gluten formation or you're using a low-protein flour. Make sure you let your bread dough rest for at least 12 hours to give it enough time for gluten formation.

The first way to check is to simply poke the dough with your finger. If the dough bounces back without sticking to your finger, it's been kneaded enough.

But almost as good as a proofing box is taking a Mason jar filled halfway up with water, microwaving it for two minutes, then putting your bowl of dough into the microwave with the jar to rise. The other thing you can do is place your lidded container or bowl of dough into a second, larger bowl of warm water.

Hot water and steam create the perfect conditions for the dough to rise inside the oven. They help achieve consistent results with better flavor development and texture. What is this? The moist, warm environment makes dough rise faster than simply letting it sit on the counter.

Regardless of the type of yeast you use, if your water reaches temperatures of 120°F or more, the yeast will begin to die off. Once water temps reach 140°F or higher, that is the point where the yeast will be completely killed off.

Lubricate With Oil. One of the easiest ways our bakers follow to make bread soft and fluffy is by using 1-2 tablespoons of lubricant/fats such as vegetable oil to wet the ingredients. This will prevent the formation of excess gluten, as excess gluten makes bread chewy.

The rise on bread dough is a crucial step, particularly the second rise. You want to rise the dough so that the yeast still has enough energy in it to work in the oven to give you a nice, light, fluffy loaf of white bread.

What makes homemade bread tough and chewy? ›

The flour you used may have contained too much protein. Protein is one of the ingredients that help yeast bread brown. Use bread flour that is purchased at a grocery store or a national brand of all-purpose flour.

In side-by-side tests, we discovered that 90 seconds of extra work is all it takes to transform no-knead bread from good to great. Three simple folds, each taking about 30 seconds, will do the trick.

No-knead (Passive): In this mix-to-combine, long-fermented method, time is used to maximum effect for developing both flavor and strength. Pros: Dough develops flavor during extended fermentation. Easy. Cons: Uncontrolled fermentation may cause variable impacts to crumb structure and flavor.

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

You can knead your dough a bit after the first bulk rise, if you want. It's only necessary to knock some of the air out of it, but if you feel the need to knead it a bit, go ahead. However, don't knead it much. The real kneading happens before the first bulk rise.

Enriched Doughs: Doughs enriched with ingredients like butter, eggs, or sugar (such as brioche or challah) often require more kneading time. These ingredients can soften the dough and inhibit gluten formation, so additional kneading is necessary to develop enough gluten structure.

Kneading for 10-12 minutes by hand or 8-10 minutes in a mixer are the general standards; if you've been massaging the dough for that length of time, you can be pretty confident that you've done your job.